Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kristina Wright. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kristina, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

The biggest risk I took professionally was the decision to leave my day job and pursue photography full-time. For eight LONG years, I worked a retail job at a grocery store. At first, it was like every other job. You get ready, you clock in, do your job, and go home. In the first few months of this job, was when my partner gifted me my first DSLR.
Customer Service is NOT for the thin skinned, or those with a dream. It wasn’t just the job, or the people, although retail coworkers can make or break your experience there. It was the fact that I was always looking up to someone for my next move, always asking for their next step. I realized I was being micromanaged and I finally started having an internal problem with this. As I started to become more comfortable in my photography career, I started taking more risks on gigs, saying yes to things I had zero experience in, and just learning on the fly. My day job was also pressuring me to move into management, but I already knew that wasn’t my place. I was happier in those few hours of freedom a day with my camera, than I ever was punching a clock. I made the choice to go from a full time position after 6 years, down to part time in the last two years of that job. I got into so many arguments with my boss about “You need to make a choice! You can’t keep doing both!” It started REALLY sinking in that if I was going to leave, I had to start planning heavily. I started taking on more gigs, and put every single cent of it into a savings account. When I switched to part-time, I also had to navigate the Marketplace for health insurance. It was in the last 6 months of that job that I was the most stressed. Knowing I was capable of so much more, but too scared to walk away from a sure thing. I created my second business, Transcending Dreams Photography two months before my last day there. I put in my two weeks notice the week before Christmas, so my last day would be New Year’s Eve. Meaning my fresh start would be on the first day of a brand new year, and a brand new me. The last day I walked in those doors as an employee was over 5 years ago, and I have never, ONCE, looked back at that decision with anything but joy and happiness. The first month was a bit of an adjustment, but I finally got the hang of it.

Kristina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have been taking photographs since I was a child. My grandmother was very big on family photos while I was growing up. I actually have most of them in a suitcase stored away now. I remember walking around my grandparents house with a polaroid, fanning the prints in my hand so they would develop faster. I slowly started to develop an eye for unique shots, and I had a collection of printed memories tacked up to my wall until I moved out.
Years later, I became more determined and focused, in the sense that I really started paying attention to the fact that this was my calling. I was given a handheld point and shoot, and learned what the digital aspect of working with photos was like. I was thrilled, but I absolutely felt the limitations. (Like not being able to get the ISO high enough in dark conditions!) I didn’t want just a point and shoot pocket camera anymore. I didn’t want to be “Just a girl with a camera” anymore. I wanted this to be my whole life, and I realized I had to up my game. I started studying brands, models, and learning all there was to know about photography. I’ll be learning until the day I die, though, and I’m ok with that.

In 2010, my partner bought me my very first DSLR camera, a Canon 40D. When I tell you I worked this camera to it’s death, I mean it. Having the ability to instantly see my images, and correct on the spot was incredible! Being able to see where my mistakes were immediately, versus waiting 2-4 weeks for a roll of film to come back absolutely changed the game.

So, in 2008 I met my partner, Phillip Cook. In all my life, I had never met someone so supportive, but one who also understood that I had a LOT of growing up to do.

In 2011, I started my first photography business, Broken Skulls Productions. I wanted to take photos of the weird, the wild, and the free. Ergo, I found the local music scene.

In 2012, I started photographing local bands in Pensacola. I met some incredible people in this time period, including my dear friend Edward A. McGrath.
I really feel like I cut my teeth here, in tiny little dive bars listening to new music every week. I wrote for several online magazines at the time, and my partner and I interviewed at least 100 bands between 2013 and 2018. Those are memories I will absolutely cherish, because I found myself there.

In 2014, I was selected to be a photographer at a local convention, which eventually led to a separate event in New Orleans. I did these for a few years, and saw that I was finding all these cool little niches that I could capture and share with the rest of the world.

In 2017, I met one of my dearest friends to this day, Steve Barber. I was applying for a local event magazine, and he was the Editor who saw my work, and gave me my big shot into the event scene.
I had a LOT of learning to do at this point, because I had customer service skill, but no conversation skill.
I have HUGE crowd anxiety, and sensory issues, though at this point in my life, I hadn’t really pinned all that down yet. I had to navigate so many new and unique situations, like posing groups of people, finding important people to the specific event, and actually SPEAKING to people! When I say I am socially anxious, I mean I had to take a couple gulps of air to keep from hyperventilating, throwing up, and remind myself I had a job to do. It has become so much better over the years, but I really had to learn to adapt and overcome in each new situation.

There was one pivotal person who not only saw this and made it a point to help me find those key people in the room, and in the beginning, actually helped me set up group photos. Madrina Ciano was the first person in the event world to actually ask me how to help, what I needed, and how I was. She still does this to this day, though I usually know as many people in the room as she does now. I adore her, and I will forever be grateful that she took the time to help me, because BOY, was I constantly scared for those first few years! She is someone I treasure, and will always be thankful she SAW me, and chose to help where she could. Steve left that magazine in 2020 to go on to create Scarlett Magazine, but we’ll get back to Steve later.

I was working a day job in retail on top of all this work, until 2018. That was a job I held onto out of fear for eight long years. Could I have left sooner? Possibly. But, life has a way of letting you know when it’s really time to move on.
I began having panic attacks on the way to work every day. I dropped down to part-time in 2017, thinking I could do both. Have the stability of a weekly check, and do the work I love. I dealt with absolute retail hell in what felt like an eternity.
At some point, my head and my heart made the connection that this wasn’t the life I wanted, and I started planning my out. I started calculating what my monthly bills would be, what I actually had to bring in, how much I had to pay in taxes, figuring out my health insurance. I put back every cent I could spare, and took as many photo gigs as I could get.

By 2017, had also bought my very first brand-new camera on credit, a Canon 5dMarkIV. I’d had a 40d, 60d, MarkI & MarkII over the years, but they were purchased used. There’s something so gratifying about being the ONLY person to have put in the work on this piece of metal and glass that makes miracles happen. I am currently still paying on my second brand new MarkIV, but now I can shoot with much more range at weddings.

Speaking of weddings, this was also around the time that Edward A. McGrath had reached out to me about becoming a photographer on his team for beach weddings. I was both honored, and terrified. The beautiful thing about Edward though, is he will TEACH you. I got it after a while, and I have never looked back. I am always aspiring to improve though.

I finally started seeing the limitations of my first business name. Understanding that it was in fact, catered to a specific niche group. Also, that a bride is definitely not going to want to see “Broken Skulls Productions” on her invoice. I took yet another leap, and started a more “Traditional” (In the loosest sense of the word) business. Transcending Dreams Photography was born in October 2018, and I finally found my outlet for all the wonderful family type photos my grandmother would have LOVED.

January 1, 2019, I became a full-time photographer, and I vowed I would never again punch a clock. There’s something so liberating about knowing you never have to work under trauma inducing situations again.
The fear I felt for literally the first 6 months was suffocating. But, I learned that I had prepared accordingly.
I was starting to work in new circles, make new contacts, and had more people get comfortable with me and my work.
I also have this little thing that I do, “Pose Coaching”, (I like to call it), where I take just a little bit of extra time to position folks correctly, so they aren’t looking frumpy or slouched. I have them breathe in on the count of 2, and smile on 3. Then I usually show them the image, to make sure they are happy. This feels like a super normal thing to ME, but people started telling me how rare it was. People started coming to me more and more, and now I realized I was beginning to be “Known” in the community.
It’s kind of my trademark now, much like my side mounted external flash.
I have a hard time with my own image, so I know how anxiety inducing having your photograph taken can be, and I feel like it’s my purpose here to make people as comfortable as possible while in my lens. I see thousands of people a month, and my goal is always that they walk away comfortable and happy with their image in my camera.

February 2021, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. It completely changed the way I see myself, and how I take care of myself. I had built up some filters, like learning to adjust, and I was on medication that seemed to be helping. I work A LOT. Ask anyone who knows me. SO much so, that I usually don’t factor in time for rest.

November 2021, I was given the opportunity of a lifetime, and offered space for a studio from Randall Peterson, at Peterson Precision Paint. I had been lugging around all my backdrop stands and highlighter in my car, and it was becoming a lot to manage. The incredible amount of opportunity this man put in my hands was profound, and I will forever be grateful. I now book head shots, family portraits, marketing sessions, and boudior in this space.

February 2022,I got incredibly sick from Covid-19, and I nearly lost my life. That is an entire experience that still gives me PTSD. I had to relearn how to do so many things, and that included just holding my camera and gear. The first month was the worst. I actually passed out a few times, because people just came up and clapped me on the shoulders like always, but all my filters were GONE. I had to start from scratch. I had to put up some pretty solid boundaries, and it changed everything yet again.

March 2022, my friend Jeri Cox had a set of buttons ordered for me, that say “Please Don’t Touch Me While I’m Working. I love you all!” So, I then asked all my friends, and basically the community of Pensacola to stop touching me. You know what? Most of them did. It’s amazing, what you can accomplish when you vocalize your needs. Now I have people give elbow bumps, and air hugs, so the love is there, just no contact.

March 2022 was also a time of tumultuous change for me. I found when I put up those boundaries, I found my real tribe in the process. I left a job I thought I’d be at forever. I found my people, my “Home Base”, and started a brand new Magazine adventure with Steve Barber called Faces Pensacola. I realized there was another avenue I needed to be in, many areas of town that weren’t getting coverage, and that I was now amped with the support to help make it happen.
Since then, I have been able to work in some of the most incredible gigs, including being a contracted photographer for FPL.

I’m probably the most proud of the fact that people know I am kind, patient, and approachable.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

As a creative person, there is a level of freedom one needs to get comfortable in doing their work. Boxes and rules have their place in operations and functionality, but creativity is the spark of life: and the opportunity to create is always endless. The thing about boxes is, if you live your life in them, you are never going to get the chance to grow. I stayed in a similar box at a job for 5 years, before I realized I wasn’t growing anymore. I realized even in a media filled world, I wasn’t getting any new knowledge, or experiencing new opportunities in this arena. If you’re always going to be doing the same thing, you are always going to have the same trajectory, and you will always get the same result. Whether you begin this new journey by stepping outside that box carefully, or breaking through those walls like the Kool-Aid man, growth is always just outside that space, waiting for us to walk out of the rubble that was once our comfort zone.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Provide more opportunities to engage, to get involved and feel like their input is not only considered, but also valued and respected. To offer more spaces to grow with the community, to create, ask for advice and collaborations. Create a network of artists and pair them with mentors. We all have to start somewhere, and wouldn’t it be so much easier knowing you can reach out for help? That is one of the things I struggle with most. Asking for help. Mostly because I never even know where to start the conversation. All of us are artists in many ways. We don’t even realize this, because our creative hobbies are “Just things that we do in our free time.” For example, I also sew clothing, make costumes and props, grow my own food, pressure can and dehydrate tea herbs. It would be fantastic to get to a point where every creative trade holds value in this world. Where we can all make a living, doing what we love. I am fortunate to be one of those who got that opportunity, and I am grateful every day I draw breath, that I have the creative support system I do. We make stronger choices when we know there is a soft spot to land when we fail, and someone to reach out to when we want to know where we went wrong. But, this allows us to get in the experience first, then ask for corrections where needed. Exploration with a safety net, if you will.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.transcendingdreamsphotography.com
• Instagram: @transcendingdreamsphotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/transcendingdreamsphotography

Image Credits
Kristina Wright